Graphene Investments SAS Sells 5,200 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Graphene Investments SAS decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,700 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,200 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.7% of Graphene Investments SAS’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Graphene Investments SAS’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,453,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 3.3% during the third quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC now owns 19,769 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,242,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the period. Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.6% in the third quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 213,733 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $67,486,000 after acquiring an additional 9,478 shares during the last quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the third quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 39,602 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,504,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Essex LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% during the third quarter. Essex LLC now owns 17,626 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,565,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

Microsoft stock opened at $406.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $413.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $390.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $303.40 and a 52 week high of $430.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,025,258 shares of company stock worth $12,160,356 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.